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In the high-stakes environment of pharmacy dispensing, accuracy is critical to patient safety. Yet, pharmacists today increasingly find themselves in an environment of distractions and stressors that threaten this accuracy and potentially the safety of their patients.
This phenomenon, often referred to as ‘The Distraction Dilemma’, was at the fore after a new study was published by Monash University’s Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (FPPS) The distraction dilemma: How interruptions disrupt pharmacy workflows and affect patient safety – Monash University.
Let’s face it, we don’t need a study to tell us about this, if you’ve been in a dispensary for more than an hour, you will see and feel this for yourselves. So whilst not a new concept, is becoming a critical issue in pharmacy practice, with direct implications for patient safety and pharmacist well-being.
Understanding the Distraction Dilemma
The Distraction Dilemma refers to the conflict between the need for focused attention in dispensing medications and the constant interruptions that pharmacists face. In the Monash University study, they reviewed 51 studies and found that the rate of distractions can be as high as 20 per hour which comes from:
- Phone calls from patients or prescribers
- Questions from pharmacy technicians or colleagues
- Alerts from pharmacy software systems
- Customer inquiries at the counter
- Administrative tasks and documentation
Each interruption, no matter how brief, can break a concentration, increasing the risk of dispensing errors. Studies have shown that even short cognitive interruptions can double the likelihood of mistakes in complex tasks like medication verification.
The Link Between Distractions and Stress
Distractions don’t just affect accuracy, they also contribute significantly to pharmacist stress levels. The modern pharmacy is a pressure cooker of responsibilities, including:
- Managing high prescription volumes
- Ensuring regulatory compliance
- Counselling patients
- Ensuring that medications are in stock
- Supervising staff
- Delivering professional services in the expanded scope of practice
When these responsibilities are compounded by frequent interruptions, pharmacists often experience a cognitive overload, which is where the brain struggles to process and prioritise information effectively. This leads to mental fatigue, burnout, and in some cases, emotional exhaustion.
The Impact on Patient Safety
The consequences of this dilemma are far-reaching. Dispensing errors can lead to:
- Adverse drug events
- Hospitalisations
- Loss of patient trust
- Legal and professional repercussions
In a field where a single error can have life-threatening consequences, the stakes are high.
Practical Approaches for Managing the Distraction Dilemma
The study’s corresponding author and FPPS Undergraduate Pharmacy Course Director Associate Professor Dan Malone and Lead author and pharmacist Meaza Ayanaw identify that “As the custodians of medicine safety, educating future pharmacists on how to manage interruptions and distractions during the dispensing process can play a critical role in mitigating risk of errors.”
Meg Brideson, Managing Director says “Aside from the practical experience of working inside pharmacies and having worked across hundreds of pharmacy designs, the team at Pharmacium has been working with owners on these issues for the past 8 years and this sentiment is echoed by everyone we speak with. When we go into a pharmacy you can see the stress on their faces and they hold it in their bodies.”
At a practical level, we focus on safety and staff well-being in the design process and encourage practical solutions including:
- Dedicated checking zones – this is a physical space which is dedicated to the activity of checking; staff are trained not to interrupt when the pharmacist is in this space.
- Workflow efficiency – streamlining processes and creating working zones/ activity related proximities, help to reduce unnecessary stressors and gain efficiencies with space.
- Appropriate staffing levels and the space to work – considerations to the number and mix of staff in the dispensary and script volumes is important when looking at how the space is utilised. The traditional space model of 80% FOS and 20% dispensary space is outdated in a world where scope of practice is expanding. Allowing enough workspace at each dispensing station changes the way pharmacists feel about their work environment.
- Technology solutions – where appropriate the use of technology can help manage and ease some of the burdens, this can be as simple as improved stock management systems to adding robotics into the mix reducing space and gaining efficiencies.
A dedicated checking bench can help minimise distractions
Pharmacy Robots can help gain efficiencies in dispensary operations.
Of course, other aspects for consideration in managing the impacts of the distraction dilemma include staff training and mental health support.
If you’re ready to explore how you can address these issues in your pharmacy, please get in contact with us to have a confidential discussion about how we can help.
